


Beauty and the Beast, But with Sheith

by minikyojin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animal Transformation, Beauty and the Beast Elements, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29403828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minikyojin/pseuds/minikyojin
Summary: In the small town of Arus, Shiro had just hoped he could spend the rest of his days living peace with the rest of the town. Until one day he was greeted by a, very peculiar, house guest. What does this stranger want? And why is he in Shiro's house? And...is that fur?
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Beauty and the Beast, But with Sheith

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Genesister (papirini)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/papirini/gifts).



> Hi Everyone
> 
> I bring you my present for Sheithlentines 2021
> 
> One of the things they wanted was Sheith with Beauty and the Beast, but done different
> 
> So here's my version of it. This could have a sequel with how it's written, and I kinda got super into it with the story so I hope you all enjoy

Once upon a time, there was a little village known as Arus. It was a quiet village, being home to less than a hundred residents. Everyone looked out for each other and did their part to keep the town up and running. From the hunters and gatherers helping in collecting food, to the carpenters and masons repairing any structural damage from the unforgiving weather, everyone helped how they could. It was a simple set up, but one that worked for the villagers.

One such villager was a man named Shiro. To the town, Shiro was a bit of a mystery. One day he just appeared, as if out of nowhere, but ever since his arrival, the town felt like it was just a bit brighter. And it was not without reason. Shiro, in his good-natured spirit, tends to be the kind of person that wants to help anyone he came across that needed any kind of assistance. It did not matter how big or how small, Shiro wanted to help those in need. It was just the kind of person he is. 

“Mr. Shiro! Mr. Shiro!” A little girl chimed, her little feet scurrying across the ground as she ran towards the man as he was making his way outside of the bakery, with a fresh loaf of bread in hand.

“Well, hello there.” Shiro smiled, crouching down low to be eye level with the small child.

“I made this for you Mr. Shiro,” The girl held her hands out and between her tiny fingers was a delicately made flower bracelet.

Shiro was not sure when or why it happened, but over time since he arrived in this village, the children wanted to try and find excuses to talk to him, and it eventually led to them using the excuse of giving him a present to start conversations with him. While he was happy for the gifts, none of it was ever necessary for him. Though he’d never tell any of that to their faces. 

“Well, isn’t that thoughtful.” Shiro smiled, happily taking the bracelet, carefully trying to get it around his hand without breaking it.

“Mr. Shiro,” The girl began to speak again, though this time she seemed to be shier than she did before.

“Yes?”

“Well, um...I was wondering...uh…” She had a pained expression on her face now, her eyes looking down trying to avoid Shiro’s gaze. “Um...how come you don’t...uh...go hunting with the other hunters anymore?” Somehow, she managed to get her question out, but she didn’t look any happier about it. Though at least now Shiro knew why she was acting so awkward around him. However, before he could answer, as if on cue, an announcement started to spread throughout the town.

“The hunters have returned! The hunters have returned!” Was announced all throughout the town as a sight of a group of hunters coming back through the town gates. With the winter season quickly approaching, the need to collect enough food for the entire village was extremely necessary. There was no telling how harsh and unforgiving the frozen weather was going to be this year.

“I wonder what they were able to find!” A little boy chimed running with some other children through the slowly forming crowd joining together, each wanting to see the haul that was just brought in.

Each of the hunters had their own catch, each one to show off what they were able to come back with. It was their own form of bragging rights and frankly the only form of “competition” the town had, seeing who would come back with the best prize. Some brought back the usual catches: deer, boars, rabbits, even a few ducks here and there. Nothing spectacular.

That is, until he arrived.

Sendak, known in the village as the number one hunter since his arrival, always came back with catches that out-shined all the other hunters. He was in a league of his own and those that tried to go against him would always end in failure. Today though, he really did outdo himself. As he made his way through the crowd of townspeople, a clearly emphasized bag he was carrying over his shoulder did all but completely stand out. Little bits of dried off blood could be seen seeping through the fabric, dripping onto the ground behind him. In any other situation, that small instance could have frighteningly scary implications.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the former champion,” Shiro could visibly cringe at his old nickname, especially with Sendak as the one that was saying it. It was not a name he enjoyed being called anymore, especially not from him. “Come to check out my latest bounty? I’m not surprised, seeing as it greatly outmatched anything you could have wished to catch.” Shiro rolled his eyes, hearing slight chuckles from the other hunters who were hovering around Sendak.

“It’s not supposed to be a competition. It’s just doing what’s best for the village. If you got the best catch, then that just helps everyone else out,” As Shiro spoke, he couldn’t help but notice something on Sendak’s face. “Though I will say it’s not every day you come back with fresh wounds. Were you not in top form for this hunt?”

The crowd behind Shiro began to chuckle at Sendak’s expense, causing Sendak’s smile to turn into a scowl.

“Let it be known, your time to shine is over. And soon, the whole town will see why I am the superior hunter.” With a huff, Sendak forced his way past Shiro, heading towards his house, the other hunters and townspeople following his lead, leaving just Shiro alone with the little girl he was talking to before. 

“I’m sorry you had to see all of that.” Shiro apologized, giving the girl a little pat on the head seeing that she was on the verge of crying. “It’s just two adults having a major disagreement. No need to be sad.” Shiro kind of wished he could take his own advice, but now, he didn’t know if he could.  
\---------------------------------------------------  
As the sun began to set, everyone slowly started to pack up their things and pack it in for the night, Shiro being the last to set foot into his house. He rarely spent much time in his home, mainly spending his time out and about helping around the town as his way of time wasting, rather than work on stuff at home for himself. Every time he came home it felt more and more like a stranger’s home rather than his own.

When he went through the front door, he was greeted with a dark room, the dead silence so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was a welcome home that Shiro had somehow grown fond of over time. A nice little cool down from his active day out. A way to start relaxing rather than searching for the next person he could try and help.

Shiro dragged his feet against his wood flooring, his body growing heavier with each passing step before he collapsed onto his personal recliner. His body slowly sank into the cushions of the chair as Shiro could feel his body start to be at ease. As he felt his body start to drift off to sleep, Shiro could swear he heard something.

A faint but audible rustling against the flooring in his attic. Logic was telling him that it could be a little rodent trying to find a place to rest for the night, but the skeptic in him had to make sure. If it was something else, or someone else then he couldn’t bring himself to relax until it was confirmed or refuted. Forcing himself up out of his chair, his muscles aching from being in motion again as he made his way up his stairs. The floorboards creak with each step until he makes it to the attic. The place was pitch black dark, so much so he could not even see his own hand in front of his face, let alone any creature that could be up here. Acting on instincts rather than logic, Shiro decided to go into the dark attic, with no source of light, and searched for the creature.

There was silence for a moment, before the scurrying noises started to pick up again. Thinking fast, Shiro reached out and grabbed into the darkness and managed to grab a clump of fur. The new texture feeling was such a shock to Shiro that he stumbled back in the darkness, pulling down a curtain covering the only window upstairs letting in the only source of light to finally illuminate the room. The white moonlight hit the creature’s back, covering its purple fur in a low glow. Its yellow eyes pierced through the darkness and glaring right at Shiro as it tried to put any form of distance between the two of them, backing itself, literally, into a corner.

After getting over his initial shock, Shiro couldn’t help but feel a sense of fascination spread over him. He had never seen a creature like this before and was starting to wonder if he was still dreaming as his body felt like it was moving on its own, reaching out towards the creature. Its eyes widened as the gap between them grew smaller, with Shiro kneeling next to the creature now, before it finally acted. It revealed its sharp teeth, digging its fangs into, what it thought was, Shiro’s flesh. A small trickle of blood started to drip from the creature fangs, causing it to snap back to reality and once away back away from Shiro.

However, when it looked at the spot that he bit, it couldn’t hold back its shock. The hand that was bitten appeared to be, not made of flesh, but of a kind of metal. It was worn down and appeared to be getting rusted, but it was still together in one piece. Which just begged the question: Where did the blood come from?

The creature reached up a paw to its mouth, feeling the little drops of blood on its claws, causing it to start to shake and let out a low whimper.

“Ah! Oh no, you’re hurt.” Shiro was a little more frantic than he was a moment ago, fumbling his hands in the dark as he tried to help himself back up and move over to the creature. Frozen in fear, the creature couldn’t move as Shiro effortlessly lifted it up and stumbled them both out of the attic. After coming back into the light, Shiro caught a quick look at the creature, able to see that it was not as scary as he originally thought. But he couldn’t focus on that, he had something else to worry about.

Shiro burst through his bedroom door and placed the creature on his bed. “Wait here just a second,” He gasped out, as he went to take out a little box from a drawer in a nearby desk. The creature tried to peek at what it was and couldn’t only get a glimpse at little bottle of, what looked like, honey. Confused, the creature was taken aback when Shiro was just suddenly back in its face, his hand holding the creature’s face in place, putting a small amount of pressure where he was grabbing to make the creature’s mouth open.

“Just stay still for a minute,” Shiro whispered before placing a finger, now coated in honey, in the creature’s mouth, spreading it over the part where the blood was still dripping from. The sudden pressure shocked the creature, but the honey soon soothed it to the point that its whole body could be seen visibly relaxing. It let out a low hum as it tasted the honey now dripping on its tongue.

“That should be more than enough, I’m sorry about that.” Shiro apologized, putting the honey away back into its little box. The creature started to suckle on the honey that coated its injured tooth, a relaxed expression spreading across its face. “Like that huh?” Shiro let out a little chuckle as he sat down at the other side of the bed, staring at the creature. As it was now, the creature appeared to be at ease, as if it was just like a regular household pet.

“So, you seem friendly enough.” Shiro said, getting the creature to give him a quizzical look. “So, you can understand me some huh? That’s good.” Shiro leaned in, getting a closer look at the creature that tried to back away slightly to keep the distance between them. “Ah sorry, um, how about we introduce ourselves. Hi, everyone calls me Shiro.” Out of habit Shiro reached his hand out to shake hands but was quick to take it away. “Ah, sorry, probably was pretty dumb to-” Before Shiro could finish, the creature reached out one of its paws, its claws retracted, and grabbed onto Shiro’s finger.

“K-…” The creature looked like it was trying to say something, its face scrunched in pain as the sound came out of its mouth, but it didn’t seem like it had any intention of stopping. “K-…ei-…th.” It managed to choke out what it was trying to say, and if he wasn’t mistaken, it sounded like a name.

Keith…

Was that its name?

Before Shiro could ask to confirm, the creature, Keith, started to cough. Speaking seemed to take a lot out of it, and Shiro didn’t have the heart to try and make it speak more.

“I think that’s enough for now, just rest up.” Shiro got up from his side of the bed, gently sliding his finger out of Keith’s grasp as he stood up. “You can sleep in here if you want to stay the night. I’ll sleep out in the spare room. If you feel you have the energy you can leave anytime you want. Just get better, ok?” With those final words, Shiro closed his bedroom door behind him, leaving Keith to suckle on the last drops of honey in his mouth. Lost in thought as he brought his paw up to his throat.

\-------------------------------------

The next morning, Shiro woke up, his body aching, and he let out a groan as he got up. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a spare bed, so he was forced to sleep on the next best thing, his worn-out recliner. It sounded better in theory than it did on execution. He let out a pained groan as he got up, stretching out his arms as he made his way to his bedroom. Part of him didn’t expect to find anything there, while another part of him secretly hoped Keith was still there. As he opened the door to his room, Shiro saw that Keith was no longer there, a nearby window being the only signs left of him as there with claw marks spread across the frame.

“So, he left huh?” Shiro’s expression saddened as he headed towards the kitchen. He had hoped that he could have said goodbye. There wasn’t anything he could really do about it now. All he could do was try and get through the rest of his day. Though the thought of Keith making it out safe did concern him. If he had gotten caught by anyone, especially Sendak, he would be in a world of trouble.

Just as the thought came to mind, a loud crash sound could be heard in Shiro’s bedroom. Concerned, Shiro raced towards the bedroom, slamming the door open without a second thought, only to find Keith under the windowsill.

“Keith!?” Shiro shouted, hurrying over to see if he was okay. On the surface things seemed alright, for the most part, but Shiro noticed there was something in Keith’s mouth. “Keith…what do you have?” Keith perked his head up to see a large game bird in his mouth. “Wha-Keith, where did you?”

Just then there was a loud banging at the door. “I know you’re awake! Come out!” Of course, it was Sendak. Just what Shiro needed. Keith let out a low growl when he heard the voice on the other side of the door. His teeth digging into the dead bird’s flesh, with little drops of blood coating his teeth. Shiro could tell this wasn’t going to end well if he didn’t answer, Sendak increasing the strength of his pounding on Shiro’s front door with each slam.

Not wanting to risk his door collapsing under the pressure, Shiro started to make his way to the door. Keith tried to start following behind him but Shiro stopped him before he left the room.

“Listen Keith, I don’t know why you’re upset, but I don’t want to risk you getting hurt because of Sendak’s recklessness. So please, just wait here for me. Please.” Shiro’s voice was hushed, his hands clutching onto Keith’s shoulders, his eyes begging for Keith to listen to him. A moment passes and Keith gives a little nod.

Letting out a sigh of relief and headed for the front door. Sendak’s pounding on his door ringing in Shiro’s ears as he finally managed to open the door.

“Ah so you are still alive. Thought you keeled over rather than answer your door.” A smug smirk spread across Sendak’s face, Shiro seeing that his front door now had new cracks forming on it. Sendak really doesn’t know how to hold back.

“Well, I’m not as quick as I used to be. Aren’t you the one that usually points that out?” Sendak lets out a small huff, not all that amused by the comment. “Is there something you want? I was enjoying getting a little extra sleep.”

“Of course, you were, so you say.” Sendak leaned in, face near inches away from Shiro, the spacing between them making Shiro feel uneasy. “Well, if what you’re saying is true, then you don’t know about the recent break ins.”

“Break ins?” Shiro had a bad feeling about where this was going.

“Yes, many of the towns people have been making claims, that early this morning, someone broke into their houses, tearing up the place before leaving. No one seems to know who, or what, did it.”

“And I take it you’re not coming here because you want to check on my well being and making sure I wasn’t hit as well.” Shiro already knew the answer to this before he even asked.

“At least your brains haven’t deteriorated like some of the rest of you.” Sendak remarked staring at Shiro’s slightly revealed metal arm, Shiro trying to cover it up with his clothes, remembering the bite marks that were still clearly visible on them from last night.

“If you are here just to insult me, you can please leave now. It’s too early for this.” Shiro went to shut his front door, but Sendak stuck his foot out to stop it.

“You see the thing is, some claimed that the invader headed into this direct, and with everyone else in this area claiming that they were attacked, you were the last one on the list.” Sendak looks around Shiro’s place, seeming to take note of a few things. “And well, it seems that your place, while under poor management, appears to be alright.”

“Look, Sendak. I like that you’re…trying to get to the bottom of things, but as you said yourself, no one seems to know who did it. And I’m pretty sure they’d recognize me if I was the one that did anything. Whoever did it could have just avoided my house, for what reason I don’t know. Now, as I said before, it’s too early for this. I’ll see if I can help around the town when I’m more awake. Until then, have a nice rest of your day.” Shiro, not so politely, started to shove Sendak’s foot out of the way, closing his front door behind him, letting out a sign of relief. Though not before Sendak gave once last pounding on the door.

“I know you’re hiding something. And I’ll find out.” With that, Sendak stormed off, leaving Shiro’s place, much to Shiro’s relief.

He turned back to see Keith starting to peak his head out of his bedroom door. The bird still in his mouth. A thought came across Shiro’s mind, but he didn’t want to think about it, or even acknowledge it. But it did seem strange. This all happening was kind of…he didn’t even know what to think. But something was up, and he was going to find out what it was.

He went over to Keith, who was now sitting up on one of Shiro’s chairs, possibly trying to be closer to him in height and not forcing Shiro to kneel to him as he crawled across the floor. His eyes lit up as Shiro went over to him and Keith let the bird out of his mouth, giving it to Shiro, who took it without hesitation. But he could tell something was up, and he didn’t like it.

“Keith,” Shiro started, his voice low, unsure of what he had to say. “Before I ask, just know I’m not accusing you of anything. I don’t want you to think I think bad of you.” Keith’s ears dropped, his body backing into the chair putting some distance between him and Shiro. “This morning, am I the only house you entered?”

There was a pause.

“Just…your…house…” Keith managed to speak more. His voice sounding raspy, causing him to cough after speaking.

“Hey hey! Don’t push yourself.” Shiro brought a hand up and started to rub Keith’s back. After letting out a few more coughs, Shiro visibly relaxed. “I didn’t think you did. Though, where’d you get the bird?” Shiro looked at the bird in his hand, it appeared to be recently killed, maybe being dead an hour at most, with some claw and bite marks around the neck but no other real injury. It was done quickly.

Keith caught his breath, rubbing his throat with his paw, Shiro noticing that with each rub, Keith’s claws appeared to go away. “Went…hunting…big guy…saw me…had to…run…” Each word sounded like it hurt Keith to say, but it wasn’t as raspy as before. And the paws just suddenly turned into hands, the fur on them appeared to get thinner. What was happening? “Oh…! They’re back!” Keith started to laugh, feeling his hand, his former paws, and tracing each finger and attempting to pinch himself, letting out a little yelp on execution. His laughter echoed in Shiro’s house, leaving Shiro just sitting there, stunned and confused.

“Keith…?” That was all he could get out, not sure what he wanted to say. What he wanted to ask him. What was there to say without sounding like a complete nutcase? Though the circumstances were surely going to be something that got him locked up if he told anyone about it.

Hearing Shiro’s voice, Keith snapped out of his laughing fit, with a wave of clarity washing over him. He reached over to Shiro, his hands gripping both of Shiro’s arms causing him to pull Shiro in closer to his face.

“Shiro…! You have to-…Listen to me!” The words coming out of Keith’s mouth sounded clearer than they did before, but it was clear that they still hurt Keith on some level to speak. “I don’t know-… How much longer I can speak. But know that I’m-…Not a monster! No matter-…What anyone says-…I promise I’m not!” That was what did it. That’s what got Shiro to start laughing himself. Not as hysterical as Keith did, but it was up there. “Shiro please-!”

“Keith, Keith.” Shiro had to catch his breath for a moment to recover from laughing. “Don’t look so worried, I don’t doubt you. In fact, I 100% believe you. Though I’m sure that sounds fishy.” Keith nodded, wincing from his previous talking, probably trying only talk when it was necessary now. “Believe it or not, I know someone that is kind of knowledgeable about things that are out of the ordinary. In fact, he told me once about people that suddenly turned into beasts. And, if what you’re saying is true, and I believe it is, I think he can help you be human again.”

Keith eyes glowed at the news. It was probably something he had wished to hear for who knows how long. Hearing this, Keith noticed something and looked down at his hands, to see the fur slowly but surely disappearing completely, revealing nothing but skin now. Stunned, Keith and Shiro could just stare at them, Shiro in awe and Keith in shock. Just then, Keith reached his hands up and quickly grabbed onto Shiro’s face, his hands now feeling Shiro’s skin with his thumbs spinning in small, slow circles around Shiro’s cheeks. The movements causing Shiro’s face to get flustered, and his body starting to move on its own as he reached up to Keith’s hands to take them off his face.

“R-Right, we should get going before more people start to wake up. Though…we’re going to have to do something about…you.” Shiro looked up and down Keith, realizing that he was, nearly now, completely covered in fur, then looking back at Keith’s hands and seeing how bare they are. “Y-Yeah, we should cover you up.”

\------------------------------------------------------

It took some doing, but Shiro, somehow, managed to cover up every part of Keith’s body that had exposed fur on it with some of his old clothes that no longer fit him. They were just lucky that Keith was smaller than Shiro, but the clothes did seem to make him look bulkier than he probably was naturally. It was a bit of a mess, the only thing of Keith that could be seen are his hands and his eyes, though with the old hood that Shiro had, it managed to make Keith’s eyes not appear as yellow as they are naturally. Though there was a problem still.

Keith was currently sitting on the floor, as if he was like a dog waiting to go out for a walk, and even with all the clothes on, anyone would question Shiro walking with someone like this. The less eyes they could get on them the better.

“Keith, do you think you can stand on your feet?” Shiro asked bluntly, not realizing it came out as rude, instantly trying to take it back. Though Keith didn’t appear to take offense to it. In fact, he seemed to be on the same page as Shiro, using Shiro’s chair to try and help prop himself up, his legs wobbling as he tried to keep himself standing upright. Despite this, Keith tried to stand without any extra help, letting go of the chair only to start to wobble even more. His body swaying back and forth before he fell forward towards Shiro. Shiro barely managing to catch him in time before Keith fell to the floor.

“Careful there! Don’t overdo it. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Keith looked up at Shiro, and while his face was mostly covered, Shiro could tell that Keith was grateful. “Here let me help you.” Shiro wrapped Keith’s arms around his, using his body as support to give Keith something to lean on while he stood up. It took a little doing but it seemed to work out. Keith was standing up straight.  
“There. Now if anyone asks, we can just say we’re a couple.”

Shiro knew what he had just said and knew that he couldn’t take it back now. It made the situation awkward, but it was better than the alternative and he was just going to have to make do.

“Ahem, right! Right…Um…Shall we get going?” Keith nodded vigorously, his hood nearly falling off his head before he caught it. “Phew, let’s try to keep the head movements to a minimum while we’re out ok?” Keith nodded again, this time less energetically, and Shiro helped lead him out.

As they headed out the front door, Keith seemed to be doing rather well. His walking did appear to be better, with only a few stumbles here and there, but overall, it was passable. Fortunately, not that many people seemed to be out yet, with most of the town getting more active around noon rather than in the morning. A fact that Shiro was all too grateful about. Though that didn’t mean they were out of the woods.

As they turned the corner, a small group of children came running up to Shiro, each eager to hug his legs, grab at his arm and even tried to grab onto Keith, who was now desperately clinging onto Shiro so he wouldn’t fall.

“Oh Shiro!” A voice called out behind the children, causing everyone to look towards the voice. The kids all giggling seeing three women come up to them. “I’m terribly sorry, the children seemed to have gotten away from us for a moment.”

Keith peaked his head up to look at the woman, not wanting to put any distance between him and Shiro with all the kids around them.

“Oh, it’s fine. Just glad I was here to help them not get too far away.” Shiro replied, giving some of the children pats on the head, as one of the women seemed to take a notice to Keith.

“Shiro, who’s this with you?” The woman put her face right up next to Keith’s staring right into his eyes, before Shiro, awkwardly, tried to get between them with all the children around.

“This is Keith. He’s my…” Shiro hesitated to say the word, and instead thought up something else to say. “He used to live in the same village I did before I moved here.” Keith looked up at Shiro for a moment before looking back at the women. All of them gave looks of shock.

“Shiro why didn’t you tell us someone you knew was in town! We could have had a big party!”

“Yeah Shiro, that’s not right! You need to tell us things!”

“Keith you have to tell us all the dirty little secrets that Shiro doesn’t want to tell us when you have the free time!”

All the women started to laugh at the thought of Shiro having any kind of secret, with Shiro’s face turning a bright red.

“Maybe let’s not do that- “

“Your opinion is invalid right now!” One of the women extended her arm towards Keith. “Sorry for the belated introduction. I’m Allura. This is Romelle, and this is Luca.” Allura gestured to the two other women who gave him a wave and a quick hello before Keith, hesitantly, reached a head out and shook Allura’s hand.

“Nice to meet you…” Keith managed to say before slinking his hand bac to wrap around Shiro’s arm.

“So where are you two headed? We were just walking the children to school since their mothers seemed to be…a little concerned after this morning’s antics.” Allura explained, rounding up the children to be by their sides.

“Oh, I heard about that! Shiro did you hear? Apparently, everyone was on edge because their houses were broken into! It was so scary!” Romelle added, her body starting to shiver recounting the testimonies.

“Yes, I heard. Sendak was oh too generous in telling me the news this morning.” Shiro could hear Keith letting out a low growl when he mentioned Sendak’s name, but he didn’t want to comment on it.

“None of us had our houses broken into, same with all of the children’s houses fortunately,” Luca stated, seeming to be the one that wasn’t phased by the incident. “Though enough people reported it, so the town’s a little on edge at the moment.”

“I can understand why. And to answer your question from earlier Allura, I’m actually on my way to see your father and Coran.”

“My father? Whatever for? Are you alright?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine, I’m fine. Just last night I kind of pushed myself too had and got my arm scraped up. Was hoping your father could help me out getting new metal so Matt and Pidge can fix it up.” Keith could be seen dropping his head slightly, which Luca seemed to notice but didn’t comment on.

“Oh my! You seriously need to be more careful!” Allura snapped, all the children letting out an ‘oooooh’ as if they knew that Shiro was in big trouble.

“You’re lucky we have to leave soon or else you’d get an earful.” Romelle huffed, rounding up the children so they were now standing in single file lines.

“Oh, I trust you’re going to chew me out plenty later. Well, it was nice seeing you ladies.” Shiro waved goodbye, with the women and children all starting to leave and saying their goodbyes as well.

“Bye Keith! I hope to talk to you more later!” Romelle shouted, causing Keith to tense up until they were all out of sight.

“Sorry about that Keith, I didn’t think we’d run into anybody. You ok?” Shiro asked, Keith answering with a nod. “Don’t worry, we’re almost at Alfor’s place, and I’m sure Coran will be there and more than happy to help you out.” Shiro could see Keith’s ears perk up under his hood, making Shiro smile. “Well let’s try not to get caught again huh?” Keith looked up at Shiro before being forcefully picked up in Shiro’s arms, being held bridal style. Keith’s eyes widening and he started to cling onto Shiro, wrapping his arms around his neck. “Sorry but I think we’ll be able to get there faster this way.” With a smirk, Shiro started to sprint forward, holding onto Keith who was doing the same to Shiro, passing by the other towns people before they could even notice anything amiss.

In what felt like no time at all, the two of them made it to the outside of a blacksmith’s shop. It seemed nicely upkept, and there were some people inside already, though that didn’t seem to be a cause for alarm for Shiro.

“Don’t worry we’ll just go around the back.” Shiro let Keith down, who seemed to be able to stand on his own feet without much issue now, though Shiro didn’t want to take any chances. “Here.” Shiro reached out his hand, like how Allura did earlier, towards Keith, who appeared to be hesitant to take his hand. Though after a moment, he took Shiro’s hand, and then started walking together. Keith’s hand tightening around Shiro’s, which Shiro didn’t appear to mind. “Don’t worry I won’t let you fall.”

The two of them snuck around the back, making sure no one else saw that they were there, and went through the back door. They were soon greeted by a man who popped up out of nowhere, startling the two of them.

“Shiro? I didn’t expect you to be over today. Sorry Alfor’s helping customers with various repairs with the others out front.” The man inquired, twirling his mustache as gave a quizzical eye to Keith. “And who’s this with ya?”

“Coran, this is my friend Keith. He has something I think you might be interested in.” Shiro stepped away from Keith, making it so Coran could see him, and it took a moment, but Keith took off his hood, getting an audible gasp from Coran.

“I don’t believe it! Shiro do you know what this is!?” Coran raced over towards Keith, instantly forcing Keith’s mouth open to reveal his teeth. At first, they seemed surprisingly human, not a fang or anything like he had last night when he bit Shiro. Though as Coran was examining them, the teeth began to get sharper, once again turning into fangs like they were the previous night. Keith letting out a low growl, his newly sharpened teeth quivering as Coran seemed to start to poke and prod him.

“Fascinating! To think that the frontal incisors of a Haeream Beastia to be able to change on its on so easily and without any form of time dilation is a rare site. Why there hasn’t been a record of this since- “Shiro had already instinctively stopped listening to Coran’s informative ramblings when he saw that something was up with Keith. His eyes started to glow, his irises all but disappearing, and his growling growing ever louder.

“Coran look out!” Shiro shouted and he dragged Coran to the side, away from Keith, who just then viciously bit where Coran’s fingers used to be. Keith’s fur began to grow back, his hands now covered once again, and his claws growing back to how they used to be. Though this time there was more. The fur around Keith seemed to expand, making the already snug clothes around him begin to stretch and tear, ripping in various locations exposing the expanding fur.

This was not looking good. Keith seemed to turn more into a creature than he did before, and he looked even more ferocious than ever. Shiro would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit scared, terrified even. But he knew that this wasn’t Keith. Even if he didn’t know him for very long, this isn’t Keith. This was something else, though Shiro still didn’t know what.

Shiro started to edge his way closer to Keith, making sure to put himself between Keith and Coran as he moved. The last thing he needed was for Coran to get hurt by this. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if that happened.

“Keith…I know you’re in there.” Shiro began, his voice soft, as Keith just stood there, staring at him. Keith’s breath appeared to be jagged, each one cutting off short, as if Keith was out of breath for some reason.

Or hyperventilating.

“Keith it’s okay. I know you’re not like this.” Shiro continued, reaching a handout to Keith, gently placing it onto Keith’s forehead. Keith shuddering at the touch, starting to back off before his foot bumped into a nearby table. “It’s fine, you know me. It’s Shiro. Do you remember?”

Keith’s irises began to return, his eyes no longer glowing, and the fur around him started to wither. Soon he was back to how he was before, human hands and all, though now, with his newly torn clothes, it was revealed that his arms and legs appeared to be completely human. Though his torso and face were still very much like a creature’s.

“Remember…Shiro…” Keith began to speak, Coran in shock while Shiro looked more relieved. “Shiro…do you remember…?”

“Yes Keith, you remember me. That’s good.” Keith had a defeated look on his face, his gaze looking down at the floor and away from Shiro.

“Keith…?”

“Extraordinary! I’ve never seen a transformation go that smoothly before!” Coran shouted, scaring the two of them and focusing their attention on him instead.

“So, wait, Coran, you know what this is that happened to Keith?” Shiro asked, placing a hand on Keith’s back causing him to shudder from the touch.

“Absolutely I do. The Haeream Beastia, or Enchanted Beast as most call it. It is a rare condition that only a few humans have been documented in having. It’s said that it like that of a werewolf where those that contract it are bitten or attacked by a beast of similar nature.”

“So then do you know how to cure this so Keith can go back to how he was?”

“Unfortunately, there is no known fully proof cure. It is stated in many texts that those that are an Enchanted Beast are prone to violent and random bursts of anger and the only way to quell those urges of anger and control their temperament they can return to life as a human. But that’s only temporary, for if they lose control of their temper- “

“They go back to becoming a beast?”

“Exactamundo.”

“You sure do know a lot about this Coran.” Shiro commented, his hand instinctively starting to rub Keith’s back, causing Keith to loosen up and relax.

“So, there isn’t any other known way to cure this for Keith?”

“Afraid not. At least none that I could ever seem to find while looking up the subject. Though that was on a first glance reading, perhaps if I had another look- “

“Could you really?!” Shiro and Keith both made a lunge towards Coran, making the poor guy stumble back into a nearby workbench, knocking over some metal palettes. “Coran if you could help us cure Keith it would be the best news.” Both gave Coran pleading eyes, a light twinkle could be seen before Coran responded.

“Alright alright! But it’s going to take some time. I can’t guarantee anything though.” Coran tried to reassure but it was enough for Shiro and Keith.

“That’s fine, hopefully we can find something. Right Keith?” Keith gave a nod, going back to clinging onto Shiro’s arm.

“I’ll let you know anything I find out.”

“Thank you, Coran. And if you could, we don’t want news of Keith to get out. So, if you could- “

“Ah! Say no more! Mums the word with me, don’t you worry.”

“Thanks again Coran.” Shiro brought a hand up to Keith’s, grasping it while Keith leaned on his shoulder.

“Right, you two go off now, can’t have you sticking around here for too long. I’ll look for you if I find anything worth of note.” Coran waved them off as the two of them left the blacksmith’s shop, Coran going out his own exit and headed for the town’s library.

Hopefully some answers can be reached.

\----------------------------------------------------

Shiro was thinking that the two of them could just head back to his place and lay low for the rest of the day, but he didn’t want to risk another incident with Sendak. At the very least they should be around a lot of people so there could be witnesses. Sendak never seemed to go too far when others were around, so Shiro wanted to use that to his advantage.

And he had to deal with another issue anyway.

Keith little, wardrobe malfunction.

Fortunately, nothing was being revealed right now other than bits of his skin, with no fun being exposed. But he couldn’t keep the look up for long. The clothes seemed to be baggier on him than they were before, and there was a lot of people staring at them now. One wrong step and they could be found out. And since going back to his place was out of the question right now, they had to do the next best thing.

“Okay Keith, this might not be great, but we gotta do it.” Shiro had brought Keith to a semi fancy clothing store. Something you wouldn’t really picture for a little town like this, but it somehow felt like it fit right in. “I know the guy that helps run this place, and I feel he’s the type that can keep a secret.” Keith’s ears dropped from under his hood as he looked up at Shiro. “I’m sorry but you might need to do some changing and he could see something.” Shiro could hear a little whimper like noise. “Don’t worry I’ll try my best not to let that happen, but we have to plan out for any missteps.”

Keith let out a groan but nodded as Shiro lead him inside. The walls were covered with clothes of various styles and sizes, some appearing flashy while others showed off as more reserved. Nothing that seemed to catch Keith’s eye on first look. Though if Shiro said they had to, he wasn’t going to voice a complaint.

“Hey Lance! Are you in here?” Shiro called out, noticing that there wasn’t anyone standing at the counter. The two of them looked around before they saw a slender guy stumble out of a back room.

“Oh! Shiro! Didn’t expect to see you in here today!” The guy seemed frantic, catching a pile of clothes that started to fall behind him and forcing them back up before they littered the ground.

“You ok? Are you here all by yourself? Where’s Hunk?” Shiro asked trying to offer to help Lance but Lance just shook his head ‘no’.

“Ah well you see, Allura came by earlier saying that you were going to go see Pidge and Matt because your arm got messed up and when Hunk heard about that he said he wanted to go help out, and since we’re not too busy today, what with everyone deciding to stay in after the break ins, so I offered to stay behind and watch the shop.” As Lance explained, he forced the falling pile of clothes back up and quickly shut the backroom door behind him, only to hear a loud crash as he did so. “Ugh, I’ll deal with that later. So, what can I do for you?”

“It’s not what you can do for me, it’s what you can do for my friend here.” Shiro stepped aside to reveal Keith, who surprisingly was no longer clinging to Shiro and standing up straight and tall.

“What! Shiro who is this!?” Lance practically jumped over the counter to get a closer look before Keith put a hand-out to stop him, not wanting a repeat of what happened with Coran.

“Stay back.” Keith stated, using his other hand to pull up the cloth covering his face, making sure nothing was revealed.

“Excuse me?” Lance retorted, keeping the distance like Keith instructed but trying to sneak a closer look. His eyes squinting as he focused in on Keith’s face, noticing a lone strand of fur peeking out of the cloth. “Wait is that-?”

“So, uh Lance!” Shiro interjected, getting between Lance and Keith. “Do you think you can help get an outfit for my friend here?”

Lance leaned away, standing up straight and puffing out his chest. “Of course, I can. Don’t underestimate me!” Lance then turned to go to the backroom, struggling for a moment to open the door before he wiggled his way through the small crack in the door, he managed to get open. “Just give me a minute!” With the door closing behind him, Keith gave a pleading look to Shiro.

“Hey don’t feel bad. If he saw something, I’ll ask him about it, but for right now, you just focus on getting your clothes together and I’ll show you around town while we wait for Coran. How’s that sound?” Keith let out a sigh, but Shiro believes that he was going to be alright.

Not long after, Lance made his way back out with a pile of clothes in his hand before dropping them onto the counter. “It’s not much but I found a few outfits that your buddy here might like.”

“My name’s not buddy.” Keith began to growl, his eyes starting to glow a dim yellow.

“Right right! Sorry Lance, this is my friend Keith, and we’ll go try these on. I’m sure they’re all great!” Shiro picked up all the clothes and lead Keith to a corner of the store that had changing room, Lance watching as the two of them ran off.

“Well okay but it’s only one person per changing room, ya hear!?” Lance shouted as they made it to the changing room section, Shiro guiding Keith into one of the empty stalls, handing him the pile of clothes.

“Okay, I don’t want to pick out something for you that you might not like, and I’m not sure if you’ll like anything Lance picked out. But see if there’s anything that catches your eye and I’ll get it for you ok?” Keith nodded and pulled a curtain shut, cutting off his vision from Shiro, leaving Shiro alone out there. He had planned to wait until Keith had come back out to see if he needed help with anything, when Lance creeped up behind Shiro, startling him and nearly making him fall back into one of the other open stalls.

“Ah! Sorry sorry. I was just wondering if you could help me do some heavy lifting in the back?” Lance helped Shiro back up, and Shiro dusted himself off.

“Oh, sure. Hey Keith, I’ll be in the back. Just holler if you need something.”

“Okay!” Keith called back, and Shiro started to follow Lance, only for Lance start to quickly drag Shiro to the side, out of sight of the changing rooms.

“Lance what’re you-?”

“Shh shh shh.” Lance peaked his head back around to see if Keith was coming. When he saw no movement, he focused his attention back to Shiro. “Shiro is everything alright? Blink once for yes, twice for no.”

“Lance what are you talking about?”

“SHHH! It might hear you!”

“What might?”

“The thing in the changing you.” Shiro gave Lance a disapproving look, before responding.

“Lance. His name’s Keith, he’s not an it.”

“Are you sure? I saw some fur coming out of its-…I mean his clothes, and I could have sworn his eyes were glowing!”

Shiro sighed and started to pat Lance’s shoulder. “Lance, thanks for the concern, but Keith really is a friend of mine, and I don’t think it’s fair to him to treat him as any less than anyone else.”

“…Sorry Shiro. Just this morning has got me on edge, and I don’t know if things could be bad like that again.”

“It’s okay Lance, though try and relax. Keith wouldn’t hurt you or anyone else.”

“Hey Shiro,” A voice called out to them, Shiro and Lance looking up to see Keith standing near them. He had managed to find an outfit for himself. Nothing fancy, just a hooded top with some loose pants, and frankly, it looked nice on him. But something stood out to Shiro. Keith appeared to be, entirely human. From head to toe.

No fur.  
No claws.  
No nothing.

He just looked like a human.

“Wow Keith…You look great- “

“Man, I knew I was good! Can make anyone look great with the right outfit choices!” Lance boasted, giving himself a pat on the back.

Shiro just stood in awe seeing Keith, the real Keith, for the first time.

“What?” Keith asked, Shiro seeing a light blush start to spread on his face. Shiro could feel his face start to heat up too and tried to snap himself out of his trance.

“Oh nothing! Just thought the outfit looks good on you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Alright Lance, I’ll buy what Keith has on, can he just wear it out.”

“Yeah of course! Not a problem.” Shiro reached into his pocket and took out his wallet and paid Lance what he was owed and turned back to Keith.

“Wanna get going? I told you I’d show you around town right.” Shiro offered his hand out to Keith, Keith taking it without hesitation. “Okay we’re going to go now. Bye Lance.” Shiro and Keith waved goodbye, but Lance stopped them before they left.

“Hey uh, Keith.”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry…about the rude welcome.”

Keith gave a small smile and waved Lance off. “Don’t worry about it.” Before him and Shiro left.

\-------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day Shiro showed Keith around the village, taking him on his daily stops to visit and help others that might need it. Though with Keith there with him, these little trips took half the time to finish, letting Shiro and Keith mingle with some of the townsfolks every now and then. Shiro really enjoying himself spending time with Keith, but a little voice in the back of his head caused him to be a little on edge. Checking occasionally to see if any part of Keith’s “Enchanted Beast mode” didn’t appear. But he could see that Keith was really enjoying himself and nothing seemed to point to him losing his temper anytime soon.

After a while, the two decided to take a break and sit down under a tree to relax, Shiro wanting to take the moment to talk to Keith.

“How’re you feeling Keith?” Shiro asked, peaking over at Keith who was looking up at his hand, staring at it the sky behind it. His face at ease, as if he was ready to go to sleep.

“It’s been a long time since I had my own body.” Keith sighed, letting his hand drop to the ground.

“Really? How long has it been?” Shiro asked, intrigued.

Keith looked at Shiro, a pause, and Keith let out a sigh. “It happened when I was very young. I lived in a neighboring village and me and my pop along with some others went on a hunting trip. I was really young at the time, and people said that it was no place for a child, but my dad insisted. He always seemed to have faith in me, even when everyone else didn’t…I don’t remember much after that. The group got attacked by some creature, luckily no one was killed, but we all got pretty beat up. We thought we were lucky enough to get out alive, but over time we all seemed to change. We all started to grow, fur, claws, fangs, all that, and the towns people were scared of us. We eventually all had to separate and try to find somewhere else to live. Over the years, we basically got by. Though it was weird at first. Eventually I couldn’t get my voice to come out and I thought I was slowly losing myself, and it didn’t help when I lost my dad. Then I really was all alone. Well, that is until I broke into your house.” Keith looked over to Shiro, who was just staring at Keith as he spoke, a blush spreading across Keith’s face as he pulled his hood up to cover it. “Sorry, I must have talked your ear off.”

“No no, I just didn’t realize you had so much to say.” Shiro responded, nervously scratching the back of his neck, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink as well.

“Well, uh, what about you? People around here don’t seem to know much about you. There a reason for that?” Keith asked, peaking his head out of his hood.

“Hehe, well to put it bluntly. I don’t remember all too much of before I came to this village.” Shiro looked down at his metal hand. “The last thing I remember was ending up outside this village. Some of the village elders like Alfor found me, and said I was in really bad shape. They had to amputate my arm because it had a bad infection, and they didn’t wish for it to spread. After that they offered me a place in the village, but I couldn’t tell anyone that I lost my arm here, since they didn’t want to scare the other townsfolk, and I agreed. I had nowhere else to go anyway, and soon new people came to the village, like Allura, Coran, Lance, all of them, and well, it was hard to keep them in the dark about the only thing I can remember.” Shiro gave a nervous laugh, clutching his metal fist.

“So…you really don’t remember anything?”

“Not a thing, though I have tried. I do get little blips of my memory here and there, but nothing that can stick.” Keith seemed to look sad at Shiro’s answer, looking down at the grass, starting to pick as individual grass.

Just then, in the not so far-off distance, a small crowd was forming, all crowding around Sendak who appeared to want to give a kind of announcement.

“Oh great, this can’t be good.” Shiro sighed, as he stood up, trying to get a better view behind all the people.

“What’s going on?” Keith asked, following Shiro’s lead and standing up as well.

As everyone showed up, Sendak gave a wave of his hand before he started to yell for them to be quiet.

“ALRIGHT! I’ve gathered you all here today with news of the recent break ins from early this morning. After looking into it, we were brought to the conclusion of who the identity of the culprit is!”

The townsfolk all gasped in shock and began to talk amongst themselves, their murmurs could be heard all the way where Shiro and Keith were sitting.

“So, who is it then Sendak?” One of the towns people asked, the crowd all beginning an uproar in agreement.

“Patience,” Sendak stated, his voice giving off a demanding tone that got the townspeople to quiet down. “Out of all the houses we searched, it would seem that intruder was making their way to one specific house.”

“I see where this is going.” Shiro remarked under his breath.

“And that was to the former champion hunter’s house!” Sendak exclaimed, pointing right at Shiro with everyone else in shock once again. Although their murmurs were more reserved now. More questioning than they were panicked like before.

“So, are you accusing me of breaking into everyone’s houses Sendak? Even for you, this is a bit of a stretch in logic.” Shiro replied, he himself shouting over everyone so that they all could hear him. Keith’s eyes lighting up as he jumped to Shiro’s defense.

“Yeah! Shiro would never do something like that! You all know him, and he would NEVER do something so underhanded.” Keith’s voice was louder, startling some of the town’s people, but it could be heard that there were some in agreeance with him. Shiro couldn’t help but notice Keith’s eyes began to grow, and his fangs began to form once again. This wasn’t good.

“Interesting that you should say that” Sendak smirked, forcing his way through the crowd. “Because the real culprit we wish to accuse is you.” Sendak pointed at Keith, causing the boy to freeze in place, Keith’s eyes widening as he anxiously looked back at Shiro. This wasn’t good. “Why so anxious all of a sudden? You must know that it’s strange isn’t it. That at the time you show up to town, the break ins happened. With no one giving you any kind of alibi except for when you’re with the champion there. So even if I’m not accusing him for this, he’s undoubtedly you accomplice in all this. Trying to win you favor with everyone here as to not suspect you.”

Keith’s face turned pale, his heart pounding out of his chest, sweat dripping from his brow, as he hesitantly looked at Shiro, who appeared to be unfazed. Not even giving Keith a doubtful glance, but rather staring down at Sendak.

“That so? You’re forgetting something Sendak.” Shiro retorted, wrapping his arm around Keith’s shoulders.

“Is that right? And tell me, what is it that I have forgotten?”

“There was someone else going around to people’s houses this morning. Someone banging on people’s doors before anyone else was awake.” Sendak’s smug expression soon fell to dread as he hear Shiro speak. “That’s right, it could have just as easily been you that broke into everyone else’s homes and choose to blame me and Keith to cover your tracks.”

“You…You dare to accuse me? YOU!? The once great hunter that can no longer even dream to stand to the same heights as me?!” Sendak’s voice had a low growl in it, easily starting to terrify some of the people near him. “And what is your proof for this accusation? Or do you wish to drag my name through the mud like your old title?!”

Silence.

No one dared to speak for fear of what Sendak could do to them. All except for one.

“I saw Sendak jumping out of my neighbor’s window.” A voice in the crowd spoke up, everyone’s heads turning to see who it was.

It was…Luca?

“You dare accuse me too you wench?!” Sendak began to storm over to Luca, stopping mere inches from her face, she didn’t flinch.

“I thought something was up when I heard a loud noise outside and saw a weird ball of fur scamper away somewhere. I had suspicions it was someone else but then I remembered that not too long after, you showed up.”

“And you are accusing me with that flimsy evidence?”

“Not just that.” Luca had pointed over to Romelle and Allura, who were accompanied by the mothers of the local children.

“We had also asked everyone you had interviewed earlier, and it turns out that most of the people were scared into testifying to you because you threatened them if they reported something you disliked.” Allura pointed at Sendak, with the townspeople behind her cheering her on. Soon the other towns people began to call out Sendak. All shouting at him for his intimidation tactics, some accusing him of being caught in their homes and being threatened if they spoke up, and eventually everyone had turned on Sendak. His hope of using the crowd to his advantage had turned against him.

The people began to swarm around him, each one questioning him for his actions, or calling him out for present and past behaviors. He was outnumbered. And that’s when it happened.

Sendak just snapped.

His eyes glowing a bright yellow, and he had fangs growing in his mouth, and that’s when Keith and Shiro knew.

“Everyone! RUN!” Shiro shouted, the people noticing that Sendak was changing into something. Something not human, and they all began to scatter. The adults picking up the children and making a way to any form of safety as Sendak began to fully transform.

His body growing, ripping the clothes off his back as his body began to be covered in fur. His hands growing massive claws, his body now towering over Shiro and Keith.

“You know, you’re both just little specs when I’m in this form.” Sendak’s voice came out as a low growl, but clear enough for Shiro and Keith to understand him. “Maybe I had things wrong in figuring out how to take you out.” Sendak’s, now overgrown, arm made a quick grab for Shiro, who instinctively pushed Keith out of the way before he was grabbed.

“Shiro!”

“Perhaps I should have eliminated you with my own hands rather than just injure you and leave you for dead.” Sendak’s grip started to tighten around Shiro’s throat, causing Shiro to start to gag, and cough to try and get some air, but there was no luck. No hope.

It was then that a sharp pain spread through Sendak’s arm. Keith had managed to get ahold of Sendak’s forearm, his fangs growing back and his claws digging into Sendak’s flesh, piercing the skin.

“Ah so it is you. I had a feeling I had recognized you.” Sendak had loosened his grip on Shiro’s neck, dropping him to the ground, Shiro gasping for air as Sendak focused his attention to Keith. Sendak’s large claws now wrapping around Keith’s head. “I had assumed you had died. I won’t make that mistake again.” Sendak ripped Keith off his arm, little drops of blood falling onto the ground off his arm but Sendak didn’t seem to notice or care. The fur on Keith’s arms started to grow back, his arms growing in mass and muscle trying to pry off Sendak’s hand, but he barely made them move an inch.

“So pathetic. Weak.” Sendak threw Keith over at Shiro, causing the two of them to roughly hit each other, making them roughly hit the ground. Shiro let out a groan from the impact, while Keith hissed in pain, rubbing the side of his head, little droplets of blood dripping from his temple.

“Keith are you alright?” Shiro tried to help treat his wound but Keith brushed his hand off, forcing himself up, blocking Shiro and Sendak.

“Protecting a fallen hunter. How noble if it wasn’t so stupid.” Sendak growled, lunging towards the two of them.

“You’re not, hurting Shiro, ever again!” Keith’s body grew as he unlocked his full-on beast form, nearly all of his clothes torn from his body as he too lunched towards Sendak.

“Keith wait!” Shiro shouted trying to get Keith to stop, but it was no use, Keith wasn’t listening. He was in fight to the death mode and was not going to back down. Him and Sendak trading blows, Sendak’s hits landed harder, stronger, with more force than Keith’s. Keith being knocked around, getting hit into the sides of buildings and the trunks of trees, his body was definitely taking a beating. His hits were doing damage as well to Sendak, but not at the same impact as Sendak. At this rate, Keith was going to lose more than just this battle.

Shiro just couldn’t just sit there and watch this, he had to get up and do something. He had to help Keith, no matter what.

“Shiro!” A voice called out to him, and Shiro didn’t know if he was grateful or worried when he saw who it was. Matt, Pidge and Hunk had shown up, and it seemed like they had something with them.

“There you are! We heard that there was a monster in the middle of town and that you were here and-OH MY CROW ARE THERE TWO OF THEM!?” Hunk shouted as they saw Keith get thrown towards them, all of them narrowly avoiding him landing on them.

“Keith you’re hurt-“ Shiro tried to grab him and get Keith to stop, but Keith wasn’t going to stick around for long.

“Won’t-…Stop…” Keith growled before lunging back towards Sendak.

“Wait, Keith?” Pidge questioned, tilting their head watching the fight, wincing whenever a hit was made. “Isn’t that the guy Lance said was with Shiro?”

“Yeah it is, but we have other important things to worry about.” Matt unwrapped the strange item they brought with them, revealing what looked like a metal arm covering. “Allura told us you were going to need a new arm, so we got you a slip.

“With modifications,” Pidge boasted Hunk looking proud as well. “Now get it on and help Keith out! It’ll be your way to make it up to us for leaving us hanging waiting for you!”

“Yeah, go help out Keith.” Matt added, helping Shiro slide on the covering, which clamped onto Shiro’s metal arm. Shiro somehow feeling the improvements. Not wanting to waste a moment, Shiro ran over to help Keith, who was taking a beating, staying conscious throughout Sendak’s assault, still getting his own hits in. But that was going to change now.

Shiro had taken the opportunity of Sendak focusing on Keith to jump onto Sendak’s back, his new arm locking into place as he wrapped around Sendak’s neck, pulling him away from Keith.

“Why you-“ Sendak began to gag as Shiro tightened his hold on Sendak’s windpipe, cutting off Sendak’s airflow. “So that’s your game huh? Fine.” Sendak started to run back, crushing Shiro between him and a stone wall, nearly knocking Shiro out on impact but he didn’t loosen his grip. If he was going to take down Sendak, he had to knock him out. And he wasn’t going to let him hurt Keith anymore.

Sendak began to slam Shiro continuously against the tree, each one just on the edge of knocking Shiro out, but he held out and didn’t want to let go. Sendak on the verge of losing consciousness himself, it was anyone’s win.

Right as Sendak was going to do one last slam, something had caught Sendak’s legs.

It was Keith.

He had grabbed onto Sendak’s legs to stop him from moving, forcing Sendak to then fall forward, face first, into the ground. His head hitting against the dirt, his eyes going dark before passing out right then and there. His body morphing back to his original self, letting Shiro and Keith let go of their grip, passing out onto the ground right next to him.

The two of them catching their breath, their bodies aching from the hits they got, and wincing as the realization of their injuries finally hit them.

“Shiro!” Matt called out, having him, Pidge, and Hunk race towards the two of them. Pidge and Matt a little hesitant to approach Keith in his beast form while Hunk checked on Sendak.

“He still has a heartbeat,” Hunk reassured, letting out a sigh of relief as he joined in checking on Shiro.

“You took quite a beating Shiro,” Matt stated, seeing bruises already start to form on his body. “We need to get you to the medics and fast!” Matt and Hunk tried to help Shiro up, but he had to brush them off and rushed over to Keith, his body not moving after he fell off of Sendak.

His eyes were shut, and his body wasn’t changing back like Sendak did, making Shiro assume the worst.

“Hey! Keith, come on man, don’t do this.” Shiro had lifted Keith’s body, turning it so he was now laying on his back. His breathing was shallow but still there, Keith groaning as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry but he could see Shiro over him.

“Shi-…ro..?” Keith’s ears perked as the sound of people coming out of their homes to see if the fighting was over. A small crowd forming seeing a passed out Sendak and a barely conscious Keith, the sight of Keith being the one that really shocked the crowd. Murmurs and whispers started to grow, all wondering what Keith was and what he did to Sendak, some not seeing how the fighting had started. As the voices grew, and others had come to take away Sendak’s unconscious body and were ready to do the same with Keith’s before Matt, Pidge, and Hunk got between them and the crowd, Allura, Romelle, Luca and Lance breaking through the crowd to join them in blocking everyone off.

“You all should be ashamed of yourselves!" Allura shouted at the crowd, shaming the ones that are all too eager to take Keith away like he was nothing. Possibly assuming he’s dead.

“Yeah! I know that Keith-“ Lance started, looking back to see Keith still in his beast form, “Is kinda freaky looking right now, but I know every single one of you thought he was a chill guy before!”

The team defending Shiro and Keith, much to Shiro’s delight, but he had to focus on Keith. He was in bad shape, and he didn’t look like he was getting any better.

“Keith, I know you can pull through this. I know you’re not a monster. And I know you are going to be okay.” Shiro placed a hand on Keith’s cheek. Keith instinctively nuzzling up against the touch, his face looked more relaxed. As he nuzzled against Shiro’s hand, Keith’s body started to change. The fur on his body fading away, leaving a bruised and bloodied Keith, human body almost entirely exposed showing the extent of his injuries. Though him in his human form put him at ease, as Keith’s body relaxed as he drifted to unconsciousness.

\----------------------------------------------------  
3 weeks later

Keith slowly opened his eyes, his body still sore as he tried to sit up in the bed he was laying in. His body wrapped in bandages and his bruises starting to heal as Shiro walked into the room.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Shiro smiled, holding a tray of food. He too having a few bandages here and there on his body, still wearing the metal arm sleeve addition on his metal arm.

“Please tell me you didn’t try to cook again,” Keith asked groggily as Shiro placed the food tray in Keith’s lap, surprisingly revealing a healthy meal with the lack of burnt bits.

“I wouldn’t risk cooking alone again after the earful I got from Romelle the last time,” Shiro laughed, sitting at the end of the bed.

“Yeah she would never let you hear the end of it.” Keith laughed back, taking a bite of the food, letting out a pleasured moan from the taste.

“I’m glad you seem to be doing better. How’s your wounds?”

“Oh you know, could be worse.” Keith replied, sneaking some glances at Shiro occasionally. “I’m sorry I’m putting you through this. Looking after me and everything. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”

“Nope, none of that talk. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want. You’re not now nor ever being a burden to me.” Shiro looked out the window and saw Matt waving him down to come out. “Ah, I got to go. I’ll be back around lunch time alright? And honestly remember, I love having you around Keith.”” Shiro got up and as he was going to leave, he leaned over and kissed Keith on the lips. “In more ways than one.”

Realizing what he did, his face turned a bright shade of red. “Right! So…yeah I’m just going to go now. I won’t keep you waiting long before I come back.” Shiro waved bye to Keith, who just laughed.

“Ah, he’s a little bit of a mess,” Keith chuckled to himself, looking down to his hand making claws appear on his nails, making them retract just as easily. “But he’s the only one that will keep me safe like this. Maybe even help me get better.” Keith turned around to look out the window where Shiro was meeting up with Matt.

“And maybe he can find a time where he remembers me as well.”


End file.
